patentcad

I have a 1997 or 1998 CAAD 3 that serves as my 'rain' bike. I'm ready to replace the frame, it rides like a 4 x 4 wooden post. Great climber/sprinter, but lead-pipe ride, really awful. I noticed that the CAAD frame that came right after the 3 - the CAAD 4 - has the same 'hourglass' rear triangle as my 2006 Six13 - at least it LOOKS similar. Does this make the drastic difference in ride that I THINK it does? If so I'll be looking for a CAAD 4+ frame on eBay to replace the CAAD 3. That hourglass shaped rear aluminum triangle on my Six13 is 10x more compliant than the stiff one on my CAAD 3.

Any thoughts on this Cdale weenies?

roadwarrior

First, the stays on the CAAD4 were the first time that Cannondale went to the hourlgass shape. I picked mine up when Cippolini was winning everything in sight on that frame. Still have it.

The stays on the Six/13 are the same ones as on the CAAD8 (as is the seat tube, chain stays, etc..) and are lighter than the ones on the CAAD7 and were reshaped for the CAAD8 and the Six/13. The CAAD4's are heavier, but still very comfortable.

They maintained the shape in the CAAD5 (first SI headset), the short lived CAAD6, and the Black Lightning/CAAD7/Optimo but they just got lighter.

big john

A friend who does a lot of doubles has had the CAAD 3,4,5 and 7 and he says the 7 is the first one that felt different. I have the 5 and it is fine with me,(I'm 210#).

dekalbSTEEL

What size do you ride? Last time I checked, https://missionbaymultisport.com/ had a NOS caad5 in solid black in a 57 that I'm sure you could get a great deal on. I bought my Caad7 frameset there for $ 250 .

patentcad

Thanks for the input. I'm a 56cm frame size, perhaps 55cm.

My LBS tells me that while it's a bit heavier, the CAAD 4 rear triangle is essentially similar in design and feel to the rear triangle on the CAAD 8 and Six13. The CAAD 3 has straight stays - and again, it rides like a lead pipe in comparison. My LBS assures me that anything CAAD 4 and newer will be much more comfortable.

Phantoj

The compliance of the rear triangle in any of em is next to zilch; tire pressure and selection is a jillion times more critical to the quality of your ride. But if you "THINK it does", you will find that it does - the placebo effect is especially powerful in the perception of pain.

pedex

^^^killer answer

patentcad

Yeah, that makes sense. I'll take my 100K road miles on various frames (Ti, aluminum, CF, steel, mixed tubing) and flush it after that 30 word snippet of cycling wisdom. Thank you.

By the way my road bikes all go out with 120psi (clinchers) or 160psi (tubulars). Period.

pedex

small pressure adjustments of 1-5 psi can do wonders ya know, there us quite a bit of room to play with, enough pressure to avoid pinch flats is often well below max tire pressure, and rolling resistance doesnt change much if at all

patentcad

Perhaps. But I've been riding this bike for long enough to assure you that the tire pressure has surely gone down at least 10psi from time to time without mitigating its harsh ride qualities.

pedex

try different tires, those make a big difference too, for example I think you'd be hard pressed to find a harsher tire than armadillos, those ride hard even when flat LOL

maybe give up the aliminum tin can cannondale?thats an option too

maybe your getting old and cant handle the bumps?

lots of possibilities here

no matter what its a tradeoff period, you can not have velvety smooth ride and 100% rigidity, deal with it

*********************
here's a very enlightening exercise to try:
put bike near a wall
mount the bike
lean against the wall with your elbow
now put feet on cranks
apply torque to the cranks with brakes locked
look all over the bike while doing this, I dont care what kind of bike it is, even a 40lb bulletproof BMX bike, there will be lateral flex like you wouldnt believe, you wont see any vertical flex though

whats the point? Vertical compliance and lateral stiffness are almost impossible in a diamond frame to deal with, basic physics. You cannot engineer much of it out.

Phantoj

Audiophiles who crow about the astounding effects of ridiculous tweaks are referred to as Golden Ears. Perhaps you have a Golden Bottom, able to tell a 0.001" difference in compliance over a bump...

patentcad

>>maybe your getting old and cant handle the bumps?<<

After two back operations this is a factor. A bigger factor is that my nice bikes are too nice (Cannondale Six13, Ibis Titanium Road). Which makes the older Cdale pretty harsh in comparison. But I do need a rain bike that sucks a bit less.

Mike552

My 16 lb fixed gear is CAAD4. LOVE IT. My 18lb Team Saeco is CAAD5. LOVE IT TOO. I have the money, but I refuse to upgrade to a CAAD8. Makes no sense to me. I've ridden the CAD3, there is a noticeable difference. Good luck with your search on a CAAD4. Keep in mind that decently priced 1" threadless headsets are hard to find nowadays... if you found a frame + fork with headset it would definetely be a bonus.

patentcad

I have a couple of 1" headsets here in good shape but I'm not so sure about the 'threadless' part. I'll look into that. Thanks for the input. What you're saying is what my LBS says. CAAD 4- CAAD 8 - essentially similar performance. Later models got lighter. But on this bike that is a non-issue.

roadwarrior

patentcad

It's called Gold Sphincter. The film version will be out soon.

By the way that's not a bad idea about the bigger tires. 700 x 25c? I'll see if the Dura Ace brakes, frameset and fork can accommodate those.

To show you how tiny adustments can make a huge difference, I moved the saddle forward on the rails .5 cm, tilted the nose down like 1º and lowered the seatpost .5 cm. Amazingly better. I would guess that a new more comfy saddle (like the Specialized Alias 143 I have on my other bike) would really do the trick. Considering the fact this is a a bike that gets ridden >1000 miles each winter on the crappiest roads imaginable, that would seem to be a more prudent course.

I'll look into the tires. I think that would really make the biggest difference.

Phantoj

Hey, that was a kind response to a fairly rude post.

I put 28mm tires on my CAAD4 for a trip on a crushed-limestone trail last year. Tire widths vary, but these (Hutchinson Flash) are about the maximum that I'd want to put in there. I can get them through the brakes, but it's tight.

You might also try a little lower pressure - with the fatter tires, you won't have as great of a pinch-flat risk. I like 100 psi - but I run that in 23mm tires without problems.

I think Nashbar has some cheap wider tires (my Flashes were less than $10 each), but for a "rain bike" you might want an expensive tire in the hopes of better wet grip...?

I think you should get a tire with no tread - I hear they kick up less water.

For a rain bike - what about fenders?

bluecd

i recently road a R1000 caad8 at my LBS and didn't realize how bone jarring, teeth chattering my caad5 frame was. same tires, same pressure.

with my caad5 five i just figured thats how all bikes road. i was wrong.

patentcad

REALLY. Thanks. Yet another take on this.

Ride a CAAD 3 my friend. Like riding in between cars on a NY City subway train. Not as noisy however.

Mike552

I disagree completely on this. But, everyone feels things differently, and I am not one to judge.

2Rodies

I had a CAAD3 and it was a jackhammer compared to my current CAAD8. I race the CAAD8 on tubies at 160psi. I had a LOOK 481 and with equal pressure using the same wheels the LOOKs ride was noticeably smoother than the CAAD8. Sure I could knock 40psi out of the tires and the CAAD8 would have a closer ride quality to the LOOK but that's not the point. The point is that different frames have different ride characteristics. And yes some of us are more in tune with how our bikes feel than others. When I raced cars some of us had better car handling skills than others also, we call that a finely tuned a## because we drove by the seat of our pants.

velocity

You know that PatentCad is an aspiring Cannondale rep he sales more bikes this way

I have a 2001 R600 CAAD 4 bike that I rode untill I got the Six13- major difference I rode that bike on 5 STP's and Ride for the Roses and countless other miles even did the STP on it in one day. I think that the CAAD4 is a nice ride but I am sure the CAAD additions to the rear triangle and down tubes on the preceeding years is much better. Dude its a Dale
Velocity

patentcad

It is amazing how minor bike position/component tweaking can make a HUGE difference on a bike. I hadn't really ridden this bike in 7 years. After 4 days on the bike, it's just about dialed in - and now I think I can live with it. It's a tough bike to take out for rides over 30 miles/2 hours or so - like I'll be doing tomorrow - but in the winter on messy roads (when I'll be mostly using the CAAD 3) that's OK. It took me three MONTHS to dial in my other Cannondale. And only 4 days to get this one just about perfect.

In some ways it's a great racing bike. Fantastic sprinter/climber, feels fast, relatively light (19 lbs without any trick light parts on it). Just not the most forgiving ride in the world. Beats riding the nicer bikes in the slop however.

velocity

Put fiber on all the points that your bady touches and it will help the vibrations. I had a CAAD 3 R400 in 2000 I eventually traded for my mountain bike I would ahve rode it more then the trade I got.
V